Apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures.



PATENTED JULY 17, 1906.

N. POWER. APPARATUS FOR EXHIBITING MOVING PICTURES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.29,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.lNl/ENTOR WITNESSES" $5 2M.

TTUR/LA No. 826,112. PATENTED JULY 17, 1906.

N. POWER.

APPARATUS FOR EXHIBITING MOVING PICTURES. APPLICATION FILED MAR.29,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES NICHOLAS POWER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR EXHIBITING MOVING PICTURES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS POWER, a citizenof the United States, residing in the city of New York, county of Kings, and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Exhibiting Moving Pictures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ap aratus for displaying moving pictures, an more particularly to apparatus for displaying pictures which are arranged series upon a translucent film which is fed intermittently across a p'rojection-Japerture in front of a suitable source of light for illumination.

The object of the invention is to improve apparatus of the type specified in respect to t e devicesemployed for feeding the film across the projection-aperture and with respect alsoto the means employed for framing or centering the pictures in relation to the rojection-aperture.

The invention also contemplates the provision of an im roved shutter mechanism by means of Whic the variation in the light thrown upon the sight of the screen is reduced to a minimum and the unpleasant effect upon the eyes of spectators due to the flickering of successive pictures is largely eliminated. I With theobjects above stated and others in view which will hereinafter appear the inventionconsists in certain features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings and fully described in this specification, the

scope ofthe invention being clearly defined in the appended claims and it being clearly understood that changesin the structure disclosed may be made within the scope of the claims Without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing its advantages.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the apparatus with the lenses and film-spools omitted for the sake of clearness, parts of the apparatus being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a view in rear ele- LWation of the structure as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the base-board, upon which the apparatus is mounted, and B designates a suitable footpiece, which is securely fastened on the baseoard and presents upwardly-extending sockets 1), into which the supporting-standards 1 1 of the apparatus are set and suitably secured. The mainframe 2 of the appara- Specification of Letters'latent.

Application filed'Maroh 29, 1905. Serial No 262,663.

PATENT OFFICE.-

rammed July 17, 1906.

tus is adjustably mounted upon the stand ards 1', screws 3 being provided for that urpose. At the front of the apparatus a p ate 4 is secured, which is provided with means for securing projecting lenses thereon in the I ficient amount of slack is maintained in the film between the suppl -spool and the tension and guide devices y which the film is held in pro er relation to the projectionaperture at t e back of the apparatus. rearward extension of the main frame 2 also afiords support for a fixed plate 6, in which the projectlon-a erture 7 1s framed. -This plate 6 has hinge thereto at one side a door 8, which is-provided with an opening regis- The tering with the projection-aperture when the door is closed. The door 8 is spaced at i a slight distance from the plate 6 and is normally held closed by a latch 9. Upon the back of the door 8 is mounted a screen 10, having an opening 11 therein a little larger than the framingaperture. This screen serves in a measure to rotect the door 8 from the heating effect 0 the li hting a paratus, ordinarily an electric-arc amp, w 10h is employed in connection with theapparatus shown. The heat from the lamp is most intense'of course around the projectionaperture, and hence-the screen 10 1s provided to protect that portion of the door 8, no protection bein required for the other parts of the door. it the bottom the door 8 is extended downward, the extension 8 serving as a shield for the film between the rojection-aperture 6 and the lower film ceding mechanism.

The film-feeding mechanism is operated from the main shaft 5 and includes the devices above mentioned which are fixed in position on the rearward extension of the mainacross the projection-aperture at suitable inrevolution of the stop-wheel.

terv'als to permit the pictures carried by the film to be projected upon'a screen and displayed to view while stationary. a

Motion is imparted from the main drivingshaft 5 to a main driving-gear 12, which is fixed upon the shaft, and this gear meshes with a pinion 13, which in turn meshes with another pinion 14, which is fast upon the shaft 15, which bears the two sprockets 16 of the upper film-feeding mechanism. The film F, which is indicated in dotted lines, passes downward from the supply-spool and beneath the sprockets 16, with which it is held in engagement by a pair of grooved rollers 17, mounted on ashort shaft 18, and connected by a sleeve 19, as shown. The shaft 18 is carried by a rocking lever 20, having one end extended to provide a handle 21, by which it may be operated. The lever 20 is fulcrumed on a pivot 22, fixed in the up ward extension 23 of the mainframe by which all the upper film-feeding devices are supported. The rollers 17 are held normally in contact with the sprockets 16 by means of a spring 24, which is secured upon the main frame 2 of the machine and engages a toe 25, formed at the forward end of the lever 20. When the handle 21 is depressed, the toe 25 rises and the action of the spring thereon tends simply to hold the lever stationary in the position in which it then is.

The lower film-feeding devices include a pair of sprockets 26, carried by a shaft 27,

which turns in bearings provided for it in acarriage 28, which is slidably mounted on vertical guide-rods 29, suitably secured in the main frame of the apparatus. Intermittent motion is imparted to the sprockets 26 by means of an ordinary Geneva stop-wheel 30, mounted on the shaft 27, and a driving-wheel 31, hearing a single stud 32, for engagement with the stop-wheel 30. The stop-wheel and driving wheel 31 bein of standard 7 construction, they are not 1llustrated'in detail. It is to be noted, however, that as the stopwheel has four slots for successive engagement by the stud 32 four revolutions of the driving-wheel 31 are requiredto produce one Thefourmovements which are required for one complete revolution of the stop-wheel cause four pictures uponthe film to come successively intoosition adjacent to the projection-a erture.

' 11 order to impart movement to the rivingwheel 31, which is carried by a shaft. 33, turning. in bearings in the carriage 28, a pair of links 34 and 35 are pivoted upon the shafts 5 and 33, respectively, and a short shaft 36 forms a pivotal connection between the links. Upon the shaft 36 a pinion 37 is mounted, which is constantly in mesh with the main driving-gear 12, and this pinion is rigidlyconnected with a gear 38. This gear is constantlyin mesh with a-pinion 39, which is fast upon the shaft 33, which bears the drivingwheel 31, that actuates the Geneva stopwheel 30. In consequence of the arrange ment of gears and pinions above described an operative connection is maintained at all times between the main driving-gear 12 and the driving-wheel 31, regardless of the movement that may be imparted to the carriage 28, with which the driving-wheel 31 is shiftable. Smoothness of movement of the driving-wheel 31 is produced by a fly-wheel 40, carried by the shaft 33 and preferably mounted at the left of the apparatus, as shown in Fig. 2, where it is entirely out of the way of the hand of the operator, which is employed to drive the entire apparatus by means of the crank 41 fixed upon the main driving-shaft 5.

The film is kept in en agement with the sprockets 26 of the lower eed mechanism by means of grooved rollers 42, similar to the rollers 17 above described. These rollers are mounted on a shaft 43,,carried by a pivoted lever 44, which is mounted on a pivot 45, in an extension 46 at the lower end of the carriage 28. The lever 44 is provided with a projection 47 at its upper end, which serves as a handle, and at its lower end a lug 48 is provided for enga ement with a sprin 49, which serves to hofd the lever 44 normally in position to press the grooved rollers 42 against the sprocket 26.

As will be readil seen, the movement of the lower film-fee ing apparatus when the carria e 28 is raised or lowered will shift the film with reference to the projection-aperture 6 and will change the position of the pictures on the film in relation to this a erture. It is for the urpose of shifting the lm in reference to t e projection-aperture in order to effect the proper centering or framing of the pictures in the rojection-a erture that means is provided 'or shifting t e lower filmfeeding rr iechanism. A decided advantage results from keeping the projection-aperture stationary and shifting the film relativelythereto instead of shifting the projection-aperture relatively to the film, as any movement of the projection-aperture changes the position of the sight on the screen.

The means which I preferably employ for raising and lowering the carriage 28 in order to effect the framing of the pictures consists simply of a lever 50, fulcrumed on a pivot 51 in abracket 52, mounted on the base-board of the apparatus and a link 53, pivotally conthe upper and lower margins of the projec- The position of the disk being fixed in relation to the projection-aperture 7, one side of the film will always be in a certain relation to the projection-aperture, and the disk 56 being'slidable on the supporting-rod any slightvariations in width in films can be compensated for and lateral movement of the films between the guide-disks prevented.

The means which I employ for reducing the variations in the light thrown on the screen during the operation of the apparatus,

thereby eliminating much of the eye strain which is ordinarily felt by spectators viewing moving pictures, consists of a special form of shutter 59. This shutter consists of two oppositely-arranged blades or wings 60 and 61,

of which the former is considerably wider than the latter. The wing 60 is of sufficient width to cover the'projection-aperture 7 completely While the stop-wheel 30 is in motion and the film is being drawn across the projece tion-aperture. The narrower wing 61, which is arranged opposite to the wing 60, passes in front of the projection-aperture while a picture is being displayed upon the screen. The passage of this narrower shutter-wing lessens the flickering effect by reducing somewhat the brilliancy of the illumination on the screen and by increasing the frequency of changes in the illumination upon the screen. By lessening the brilliancy of the display on the screen the contrast between the appearance of the screen when the light is entirely out off and when the picture is displayed thereon is lessened and by increasing the frequency in the changes of the illumination on the screen the impressions upon the retina are diminished in intensity and persistence. As ma be seen in Fig. 2, one revolution of the shutter takes place for eachTnovement of the film, the shutter being rotated by two intermeshing beveledgears 62 and 63 of the same diameter,

one of said beveled gears being mounted on the shaft 33 and being driven thereby' The operation of the machine having been partially indicated in the foregoing description, it need not'be described in detail here.

The film having been introduced into position, as shown in Fig. 1, with the supply-spool above the ap aratus in convenient proximity thereto, the lenses andlight are pro erly adjusted to focus the pictures upon t e screen and motion is then imparted to the film-feeding mechanism and the shutter by turning the crank 41. The position of the pictures on the screen will show whether the carriage 28 requires adjustment to frame the pictures properly, and the lever 50 may then be raised orlowered as required in order to center the pictures accurately in the framing-aperture.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- '1. In apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures, a shiftable carriage, film-feeding mechanism carried thereby, a main driving-gear turning about a fixed axis, and means for maintaining continuously an operative connection between said main driving-gear and the film-feeding mechanism.

2. In apparatus for exhibiting moving pic tures, a shiftable carriage, film-feeding mechanism mounted on the carriage, a main driving-gear turning about a fixed axis, and shiftable intermediate gearing constantly in operative connection with both said main driving-gear and said film-feeding mechanism.

3. In apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures, a shiftable carriage, film-feeding mechanism mounted on said carriage and comprising a pinion, a main driving-gear turning about a fixed axis, intermediate gearing between said main driving-gear and said pinion and constantly in-mesh with both, said intermediate gearing moving in an are having the axis of the main driving-gear as a center.

4. In apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures, a main driving-gear turning about a fixed axis, a shiftable film-feeding mechanism including a pinion, a pair of pivotallyconnected links, one of said links turning about the axis of the main driving-gear and the other turning about the axis of said pina ion, and intermediate gearing connecting said main driving-gear and said pinion, said intermediate gearing being mounted on the pivot connecting said links.

5. In apparatus'for exhibiting moving pictures provided with a fixed projection-aperture, a carriage arranged for vertical movement beneath said projection aperture, a main driving-gear turning about a fixed axis, film-feedin mechanism mounted on said carriage, and sIiiftablyintermediate gearing constantly in operative connection with said maindriving-gear and saidfilm-feedingmechanism.

6. In apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures, a main driving-gear,film-feeding mechanism mounted on a fixed support and driven by said main driving-gear, and shiftable filmfeeding mechanism also driven by said main driving-gear.

7. In apparatus forexhibiting moving 1ctures, continuously operative filmfee 'ng mechanism mounted on a fixed support, and intermittently-operative film-feeding mechanism mounted on a shiftable carriage.

8. In apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures, the combination with a member provided with a projection aperture, of a rotatable shutter having two oppositely-arranged wings held in fixed relation to each other and adapted to successively interrupt the pas sage of light through the projection-aperture, one of said Wings being wider than the other.

9. In apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures,'the combinationwith amember having a projection-aperture, of a rotatable shutter having a wide wing and a narrow wing permanently held in opposite relation to each other and both adapted to interrupt the passage of light through the projection-aperture, intermittently-operative film-feeding mechanism, and means for rotating the shutter, said shutter-rotating means and film-feeding mechanism being so arranged that the Wide wing of the shutter covers the rojection-aperture during the movement 0 the film.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two Witnesses.

NICHOLAS POWER.

Witnesses:

BAXTER MORTON, H. RICHARD WoBsE. 

